My Crust Was a Bust

[Shel_B]

Wednesday I made my first cheesecake - a lemon goat cheese version - which came out pretty well and was liked by all who tried it. The crust, made mith Trader Joe's Meyer lemon flavored cookies, was very tasty. However, it was crumbly and pieces broke off leaving quite a few crumbs. Is this typical of traditional graham cracker crusts? If not, maybe the different texture and makeup of the lemon cookies contributed to the problem. In any case, how might I make the crust so it will be more likely to stay together? Thanks!

[Lisa Shock]

I am not familiar with the cookies, are they made with regular flour, or are they gluten free? (gluten helps to bind these crusts) I found a review of the cookies online, but no ingredient list. Their thinness may be an issue, it might be other things. I'm, 50-50 on the cause.

1) My first guess would be a possible lack of hydration, which is going to sound odd, I know. Butter is about 20% water (in the US, it isn't regulated well), and that water brings the gluten back to life in crumbs. It's possible that the cookies weren't crumbled finely enough to allow the melted butter to soak in. It's also possible that you didn't use enough butter, your butter had too little water content, or, maybe you used margarine?

2) The super-thin cookie itself may be a problem depending on how it was made. Since crumbs from a thin cookie have a greater percentage of crust crumbs than inner crumbs, how the exterior of the cookie was treated in the original bake may affect your result in a crust. Various washes and treatments that give glossy surfaces (like egg wash) to a cracker/cookie may also lock up the gluten so it won't react in further cooking.

I'd try making a tiny tart crust as a test and add a little water to your melted butter and see how it comes out. If it doesn't work, it may not be possible with this cookie.

Hope this helps!

[minas6907]

Just process the cookies in the food processor until fine, then add the butter. The mixture should be sort of crumbly, but say when you have some in your hand and you close your fist and compress it, they should stay together in one mass, not remain crumbly. I think in all likely hood, you just need more butter. When there's the proper amount of butter in the crust, it solidifies in the fridge, and you have a nice firm crust.

[qrn]

I use nabisco chocolate wafers,short time in FP and then use,(with double chocolate,cheese cake...)

Bud